In today’s world, it’s rare to come across an article about work culture without seeing the term “work-life balance.” As the lines between employees’ personal and professional lives have been blurred by the rise of flexible work arrangements, there has been increasing pressure for people to both excel at work and protect their personal time.
However, it often seems that the more employees and HR professionals push for work-life balance, the more stress they feel. To escape the seemingly endless lineup of productivity apps and time management tactics all designed to ensure work and personal lives are kept separate, many professionals are leaning into a new concept: work-life harmony.
If you want to build a high-performing and satisfied workforce, it’s crucial that you understand how work-life harmony differs from balance, why employees are striving for it, and how HR professionals can support this perspective shift.
The Difference Between Work-Life Balance and Work-Life Harmony
“Balance” and “harmony” are similar terms, but they are vastly different in practice. Work-life balance focuses on drawing hard boundaries between work and personal activities, carefully managing your time so that neither of these parts infringes on the other. This concept focuses on having an equal distribution of time and energy across both segments of your life.
Work-life harmony, on the other hand, is all about integrating your work and personal life in a way that promotes happiness in both arenas. Instead of blocking out specific time in the schedule for work responsibilities and personal tasks, it allows both of these things to flow together seamlessly.
Why Today’s Employees Are Striving for Harmony Over Balance
For the modern employee, the concept of work-life balance lost its relevance when the traditional nine-to-five work environment became obsolete. Now, employees routinely work at home and have flexible schedules. Smartphones and videoconferencing apps have given employees the ability to contact each other and work on tasks outside of the office environment, making location-dependent work a thing of the past.
Employees used to feel guilty about taking a work call or meeting outside of typical office hours. Similarly, employers might frown upon them taking paid leave in the middle of the week to attend to personal matters. However, both parties are recognizing that there’s no need to fret about either.
Work-life harmony means embracing the fact that it’s okay for work and personal life to overlap as long as employees feel happy, fulfilled, and purposeful.
How to Support Your Employees in Creating Work-Life Harmony
Understanding the crucial nature of work-life harmony is one thing. However, helping employees create it can present a significant challenge. Here’s how you can empower your employees to establish harmony in the personal and professional arenas.
Create a Culture of Open Communication
Encourage employees to openly discuss work-life harmony concerns with their supervisors. In turn, encourage managers to regularly check in with employees to gauge how they’re doing and offer support where necessary. Continually remind employees that their satisfaction and well-being are important to your organization and that you are open to talking about ways you can help.
Prioritize Productivity Over Hours
Shift the emphasis from the number of hours employees spend working to the outcomes they achieve. Ensure that your managers are focusing on the quality of work and that employees have clear and attainable expectations for their performance.
Continue to Emphasize the “Why”
Work-life harmony can only be reached when employees feel satisfied in both their work and personal lives. Make sure that employees understand how their work ties into the overall company mission. Show them how what they do each day is meaningful to both their coworkers and the organization as a whole.
Offer Flexibility and Encourage Breaks
Reportedly, 31% of employees have left a job because it did not offer enough flexibility. In order to create work-life harmony, employees need time and space to tend to personal matters. Where possible, offer flexible schedules or working locations. Encourage employees to use their PTO hours and take breaks when they are feeling stressed.
High Performance Depends on a Harmonious Work Environment
Helping your employees create work-life harmony can be challenging, but the results are certainly worth it. If you’re looking for ways to enhance your workforce management for better outcomes in this arena, AssetHR can help. Contact us today to learn more about our HR consulting services and how our deep expertise can assist you in shaping a culture of balance, success, and satisfaction in your organization.